Bathtub



Aug. 18, 1959 F, s. Rossm. E 2,899,687

BATHTUB Filed March 2a, 1955 INVENTORS m R L M M m m. mg

United States Patent 2,899,681 BATHTUB Frederick S. Rossetti, Branford, and John B. Rossetti,

. East Haven,'Conn.

Application M arch 28,1955, s narisiiiasspsa :1 Claim. (Cl'. 4 14 9) 7 This invention relates to improvements in bathtubs.

An important object of this invention 'is to provide a bathtub which can be completely equipped with all accessories in the factory, with the full utilization of the economies of the modern production methods, and can be transported to its destination completely assembled, reducing thereby the cost and the time of the installation very considerably;

Another important object of this invention is to provide a bathtub of improved quality'of workmanship due: to the better manufacturing and testing facilities available in the factories than in the buildings where the bathtubs are installed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bathtub which serves also as a shower stall, having smooth easily cleanable watertight surface covering in a sanitary manner the adjacent wall surface of the bathroom, thereby making unnecessary the customary tiling of the bathroom wall, which is expensive and frequently developes unsanitary gaps.

A further object of this invention is to provide a bathtub which has a novel shower embodied in the brace and curtain rod and having the advantageous feature of directing the spray toward the back of the stall and thereby protecting the bathroom floor from the spray.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing, forming a part of this application, wherein for the purpose of illustration, are shown a preferred and a modified form of this invention,

Figure 1 is front view of the preferred form of my bathtub,

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same preferred form of my bathtub,

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the brace and curtain rod, embodying the shower, on line 4-4 of Fig. 3, also of Fig. 5,

Figure 5 is a plan view of a modified form of my bathtub.

In the drawing, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts, the numeral 1 designates the bathtub, which is preferably made of steel, and may be made also of cast iron or of other suitable material known in the art.

In the preferred form, illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the back wall 2 and the side walls 3 of the bathtub 1 are extended vertically, forming a shower stall. These extensions are preferably integral with the bathtub, with a continuous smooth finish in order to facilitate its sanitary cleaning. In case of a pressed steel bathtub, these vertical extensions will be preferably welded together and to the tub, the surface of the Welded joints ground smooth, and the bathtub, together with the extensions, enameled as a unit. It is, however, within the spirit of this invention to join these extensions to the back wall and side wall of the bathtub by other methods known in the art,

unsanitary gaps'where dirt may accumulate.

An essential feature of this invention is the brace 4 secured to the upper free corners of the extended end walls 3. 1 The function of this brace 4 is threefold.

Its primary function is to act as a brace between the extended walls, making it feasible. to transport the assembled tub as a unit to the place of installation, withoutthejdanger of harmful deformation or damage to the enamel finish. Its secondary function is to serve as a curtain ro'd 'slidably. supporting the customary curtain used to enclose the shower stall. Its tertiary function is to ser've'as a novel shower, having the important advantage that itdirects the spray of water toward the back wall 2 of the bathtub thereby'preventing the shower from spraying water on the bathroom'floor adjacent to the fr'ont of the bathtub.

As illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing, this brace 4 has a tubular cross section and is provided with a multiplicity of shower holes 5, which are directed slightly downwardly. and toward the back wall 2 of the bathtub 1. One endof the brace 4 is closed, and the other end is connected to the water supply by the supply .pipe 6.

Slidably mounted on the brace 4 are the curtain hooks 7,

carrying the curtain 8.

Mounted on the wall of the bathtub 1 are the cold and hot water valves 9, and the bathtub faucet 10, used for the regulation of the Water flow into the bathtub and the shower. The construction and the method of operation of these are well known in the art and need no description. The bathtub 1 may carry optionally also all the fittings and accessories commonly mounted on bathtubs, such as a soap tray. The bathtub 1 will have also the customary drain openings and drain connections, well known in the art.

As a modification, the portion of the brace 4 having the shower holes 5 may be rotatable so as to permit the variation and adjustment of the slope of the shower holes 5 and the resultant direction of the water spray.

Fig. 5 of the drawing shows a modified form of this invention in which only one of the end walls 3 is extended and the brace, connecting the free upper corners of the extensions, is L-shaped. The arrangement of the shower holes is the same as in the preferred form.

Both in Fig. l and Fig. 5 the back wall 2 is extended to the full height of the end wall 3; it will be, however, within the spirit of this invention to extend the back wall 2 only partially or to provide an opening in said back wall in order to accommodate a window located at the bathtub. As a further modification of this invention, the pipe connection between the overflow and the drain openings, designated by 11 and 12, respectively, may be made integral with the bathtub, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, also, the faucet 10 and the valves 9 may be combined in a single casting, in order to reduce the cost of their manufacturing and installation in the factory.

The operation of our invention will be as follows:

With the bathtubs, customary in the prior art, the necessary piping is made up of a multiplicity of fittings and pipe sections which are cut, threaded, and assembled at the place of installation, to be mounted on the wall of the bathroom. Following this, the bathroom walls are plastered and covered with tiles above the bathtub. As this entire work is manual, requires considerable time and, with the high wages of the building industry, also considerable expense. Besides, the tiling often develops cracks adjacent to the bathtub, causing leaks and the accumulation of dirt.

In contrast to this, our bathtub will be shipped to the place of installation completely assembled, hence, its in- Patented Aug- 18, 1959 stallation will be simple, quick, and inexpensive. whole installation will consist of moving the tub to its place, and of making the pipe connections for the hot and cold water and for the drain.

It is an important feature of this invention that the, extended walls of the bathtub need not be secured to the bathroom walls becausethese extended walls of the bathtub will be held tightly against the wall surface of; the bathroom by the tubular brace 4. It is also important that these extended walls of our bathtub. will give a smooth, easily cleanable surface, superior to the tiling.

The operation of the shower, embodied in the tubular brace 4, constitutes an important advantage of our invention. As the spray of the shower is directed away from the front toward the back wall of the bathtub, the possibility of the wetting of the bathroom floor is reduced to a minimum. A further convenience is that the spray is directed not to the head of the bather, as with the showers commonly used in the art, but to the body, and the height of the spray can be easily regulated by a slight turn of our tubular brace 4.

It is to be understood that the forms of our invention, herewith shown and described, are to be taken as examples of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and in the arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of our invention, or the scope of the subjoined claim,

The

We claim:

A bathtub having back wall and end walls; conjoint vertical wall extensions integral and coextensive with said back wall and end walls adapted to form a sanitary and Watertight cover over the adjacent Wall surface of the bathroom; a tubular brace having its ends secured to the upper free corners of saidconjoint wall extensions and being adapted to tie, brace, and reinforce said wall extensions to permit the moving of the bathtub into its place of installation- Without harmful deformation; said tubular brace having, shower holes directed toward said back wall, and being in communication with a water a supply adapted to produce aflow of Water through said shower holes; curtain carrying hooks slidably mounted on said tubular brace; the portion of the tubular brace, having the shower holes, being rotatable permitting the changing of the direction of said shower holes in order to, regulate the slope of the spray of water coming from th tu ular rac Refierenees (Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- 8.19,582 Newton May 1, 1906 2,087,121 Samelow July 13,, 1937 2,380,665 Morris July 31, 1945 2,617,116 Voorhees Nov. 11, 1952 

